If you grew up reading Stephen King novels or R.L. Stine’s scary stories, you probably remember some of those creepy book covers. Long before we could scroll through thousands of books online, the cover art often made us pick one up in the first place.
Now, some of the original paintings behind those familiar covers are heading to auction, along with vintage magazine illustrations, classic science fiction artwork, and other pieces dating back more than a century.
Heritage Auctions is hosting an Illustration Art auction on October 29, just two days before Halloween. Highlights include original covers for books by Stephen King, R.L. Stine, and Dean Koontz, along with a particularly unusual horror magazine illustration from 1940.
For collectors of vintage books, old magazines, and original artwork, it’s a chance to see the paintings that helped bring these stories to life.
Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew Cover From 1985
One recognizable piece heading to auction is the original artwork for Stephen King’s Skeleton Crew, a collection of horror stories first published in 1985.
Artist Don Brautigam created the painting for the book’s first edition. His artwork helped establish the look of several popular books during the 1980s, when illustrated covers were a familiar sight on bookstore shelves.
The painting comes from Brautigam’s estate and is being offered alongside another of his original book covers.
For longtime Stephen King readers, it’s a chance to see the original artwork behind a book that’s been around for more than 40 years.
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Dean Koontz’s Watchers Cover From 1987
Another original painting by Don Brautigam is the cover artwork for the first hardcover edition of Dean Koontz’s Watchers, published in 1987.
Like his work for Stephen King, Brautigam’s illustration helped give the novel a recognizable look when it first reached readers.
The painting is offered from the artist’s estate, making it another notable piece of 1980s book-publishing history.
A 1940 Horror Magazine Cover With an Unusual Scene
One of the older pieces in the auction is from the June 1940 issue of Red Star Mystery, a pulp magazine that introduced Don Diavolo, also known as the Scarlet Wizard.
Hugh Joseph Ward painted the cover, which shows the magician-detective pulling Satan out of a top hat above the New York City skyline.
It’s certainly not the kind of illustration you’d expect to see on a magazine cover today.
The original painting is making its auction debut after remaining with the family of Clayton Rawson, the mystery writer who created the character.
Pulp magazines were known for their colorful, dramatic covers, and original examples of that artwork have become a collecting category of their own.
Other Vintage Illustrations Are Also Heading to Auction
The October 29 sale isn’t limited to horror. It also includes original paintings used for vintage magazines, calendars, and fantasy books.
One major piece is Frank Earle Schoonover’s 1917 illustration for Edgar Rice Burroughs’ A Princess of Mars. The painting features characters from the early science fiction story and comes from the collection of Burroughs historian Robert Barrett.
Two original Saturday Evening Post covers from the 1950s are also debuting at auction. Both came from the family of a former Curtis Publishing employee, the magazine’s parent company.
Other highlights include vintage calendar paintings by Gil Elvgren, artwork by Patrick Nagel, and an illustration the Brothers Hildebrandt created for a 1977 Lord of the Rings calendar.
R.L. Stine’s Blind Date Cover From 1986
Before R.L. Stine became widely known for his Goosebumps books, he was already writing horror stories for young readers.
His 1986 novel Blind Date was an important early step into the genre, and the original cover painting by Jeffrey Lindberg is now part of the upcoming auction.
If you remember browsing the library’s horror section or picking out scary paperbacks as a teenager, artwork like this may bring back a few memories.
It also reminds us how much effort went into creating book covers before digital illustration became common.
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Why Original Book and Magazine Artwork Is Collectible
Most of us are familiar with old books, magazines, and posters, but the original paintings used to create those images are something entirely different.
Before an illustration appeared on thousands of printed copies, an artist typically created the original artwork by hand. That painting could later become a book cover, magazine illustration, advertisement, or calendar image.
While printed copies may still be relatively easy to find, the original artwork is often one of a kind.
The artist, the publication, the painting’s condition, and its history can all influence how much collectors are willing to pay.
That doesn’t mean every old illustration or vintage print is valuable. Still, if you come across signed artwork, original paintings, or unusual illustrations at an estate sale or secondhand shop, it’s worth taking a closer look before passing them by.
Heritage Auctions‘ October 29 sale brings together several decades of illustration history, from early science fiction to the horror novels many readers remember from the 1980s. The final selling prices will better show how much collectors are willing to spend on these pieces today.
